twistedanddivine 's review for:

4.5
adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

I hate sci-fi. Me reading this book was about trying something new and challenging myself outside of what I usually read. The second I put this down, I started planning a sci-fi binge.

This is unlike anything I have ever read. I thought this was just going to be a drug war in space narrative but it ended up being one of the most philosophically engaging books I have ever read. Although I half expected the generous helping of "product-of-the-time" misogyny, I never expected this book to have me walking down the street pondering what it really means to be human. Despite being packed full of big ideas and existential minefields, Dick's writing style making this is an easy, though at times disorientating read. Parts of it are funny, parts of it made me go back and think "wait, what the hell just happened there?". It's bizarre, yet grounding, setting out a future  which is both outrageouly dystopian and eerily like the world we live in today. This was absolutely illuminating and I am so glad I gave this a chance. 

I would recommend this to any sci-fi hater who enjoys philosophy and corporate drama.